Form for paper currency.



B. BROWER.

FORM FOR PAPER CURRENCY. nrmu'rmu FILED NOV. 9, 1907.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

A PUBLIC uues WHEN Iv D MAY BE REISSUED THIS CERT ICATF. IS RECEI BLE FOR CUST(!MS,TAXE$ IN AWHO E SHEET OF Fl ECOUPONS ANE W EN 50 R ff im'eaaasn rm; NORRIS PETERS cm. WASHINGTON. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BLOOMFIELD RRowER, on NEW YoRK, N. Y. 7

FORM FOR PAPER CURRENCY.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BLOOMFJIELD BROWER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Forms for Paper Currency, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to an improved form of paper currency, in which provision is made not only for notes of the .usual dollar denominations, negotiable and redeemable in the manner prescribed for ordinary government and bank notes, but also for fractional parts of a dollar which may be used for the purpose of making remittances by mail.

At the present time, the principal ways in which remittances may be made by mail for fractional parts of a dollar are the following, namely, (1) by means of checks, drafts, or the like; (2) by means of postal notes or money orders; (3) by means of postage stamps, and (4) by mailing coins. Gomparatively few persons can avail themselves of the first method, and even with those who can, it is objectionable because it is inconvenient and undesirable to draw checks or drafts for such small amounts, and, further, because of the charges often made by banks forthe collection of such checks or drafts when deposited with them. As to the second method, it is objectionable because of the charges made for the issue of postal notes and money orders, and, further, because many persons are located at such distances from post oflices that it is inconvenient and in some cases impossible for them to procure such notes or orders. As to the third method, it is objectionable because postage stamps are not redeemable in cash, and merchants who receive more postage stamps than they can use in their mail, must, in order to obtain cash for them, dispose of them at a loss, or, in other words, for something less than their face value, and this method is further objectionable because of the distances at which many persons are located from post offices or other places at which stamps can be procured. As to the fourth method, the objections are so obvious that it seems unnecessary to set them forth here, one of the principal objections being that in order to transmit coins by mail, it is nec- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 9, 1907.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

Serial No. 401,396.

essary to provide some means for holding the coins securely in the envelop and in such position therein that they will not come under and thus damage the device used for canceling the stamp upon the envelop.

A convenient and practical form of fractional paper currency has always been desirable for mailing purposes, and at the present time it is still more desirable and even necessary that such a convenient and practical form of fractional paper currency should be provided and adopted because of the growth of advertising and so-called mail order business and the practice which is so general at the present time, of ordering goods from such advertisements, and otherwise, and remitting for them by mail.

It is the object of the present invention to provide such a convenient and practical form of fractional paper currency for these purposes and at the same time to provide for it in such a way that the issue of paper currency by the Government, including such fractional paper currency, will not exceed the issue required for ordinary legal tender notes or bills of the usual dollar denominations.

To this end the invention, generally stated, consists in a note made up of sections and bearing printed or other suitable matter rendering said note, when intact, legal tender, and the sections thereof, when detached, not legal tender, but negotiable or redeemable by the public in a more limited way, and in the aggregate for a slightly less amount, say one per cent., than the note itself when intact, the negotiability and redeemability of the section detached and each of the other sections of the note being then limited, as, for example, to the purchase of postage stamps and redemption in silver at post oflices. This change in the negotiable and redeemable character of the note, and in the aggregate value of the several sections thereof, when a section is detached is desirable for several reasons, the principal ones of which will be hereinafter referred to.

As a full understanding of the invention can best be had from a description of a form of government or bank note embodying the same, such description will now be given, reference being had to the accompanying drawing which represents the reverse side of a note embodying the present invention.

Referring to said drawing, the note therein illustrated has the dimensions of an ordinary government or bank note and is, as shown, of the denomination of one dollar. The obverse side will be substantially the same as one dollar silver certificates now in circulation except that the word Dollar must extend lengthwise across the bill so that it will not be expressed on any of the sections thereof hereinafter referred to. On its reverse side, the bill is divided into sections 1, 2, 3, t, 5. In the particular form of note shown, section 1 is for five cents, sections 2 and 3 each for ten cents, section 4 for twenty-five cents, and section 5 for fortynine cents. As shown, all of the sections 1, 2, 3, at, 5 are of the same width (considered lengthwise of the note) but this is not essential, and, in fact, for some purposes the several sections may be made of different widths, varying according to the values of the sections, the five cent section being smallest. This will be a convenient arrangement, as it will facilitate the separation of the sections into separate lots or groups accord ing to values, when such sections are redeemed.

The note, as a whole, is legal tender for all the purposes for which ordinar r government and bank notes are now legal tender. The sections 1, 2, 3, 1, 5, as detached, may also be legal tender, but this is not desirable for several reasons and, in accordance with another object or feature of the present invention, the form of the note and the several sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 thereof is such, as to the printed provisions appearing thereon, that on detaching one of the sections, the legal tender character of the bill is destroyed, the section so detached, as well as the remaining sections, losing their legal tender character as well as a part of their aggregate value, and being negotiable or redeemable only in certain limited ways or at certain specific places. Such limitations as to negotiability or redeemability are desirable, because they will have the effect of preventing such sections going into general circulation and thus avoid the existence of a soiled and ragged fractional paper currency which would be exceedingly objectionable. For example, the sections may be made redeemable in silver at any post office in the United States, its Territories and dependencies, and this method I prefer for several reasons. I prefer that they should be redeemable at such post ofices because the Post Office Depart-- ment is the one which would profit mainly by the use of the sections, in that the mailing of such sections would require the use of postage stamps, and any postmaster redeeming such sections would account for moneys received and disbursed by him by forwarding such sections to the Post Oflice Department which in turn would deliver them to the Treasury Department by which the sections would be destroyed. In accordance with this view, the reverse side of the note bears a printed notice, extending substantially the whole length of the bill that This certificate is receivable for customs, taxes and all public dues when in a whole sheet of five coupons and when so received may be reissued, while each of the five sections bears a not-ice limiting or restricting the redeemability or negotiability of the sections when the bill is not intact, namely, that When any one of these five coupons is cut off, this coupon is not a legal tender but may be redeemed in silver at any post oflice in the United States, its Territories and dependencies. This printed matter appears in full only on section 1, but it will be understood that, as indicated, it is the intention that it should appear on each of the other sections.

To guard against the passage off of a note from which one section has been detached as a full dollar note, the word Dollar extends substantially the whole length of the note, so that when a section is detached, the note will obviously be incomplete by the removal of part of this word.

\Vhile the value of the note when intact is one dollar, the aggregate value of the five sections of the note when it is not intact is, as will be observed and as already stated, only ninety-nine cents. Thus, not only is the method of redeeming or negotiating the note changed when a section or sections are detached, but its value is changed or reduced one per cent, such reduction or any other reduction adopted, representing a tax or fee exacted by the Government for the use of the note in coupons or sections.

lVhat I claim is A currency note having a space extending across substantially its full length on which is printed a statement of the full value of the note substantially filling said space, said note beingdivided transversely into sections suitably spaced to permit detachment. of each without mutilation of the adjacent section or sections, there being printed on each such section a statement of the value of such section, and the sum of the values thereof being less than that of the full value of the integral note, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BLOOMFIELD BROIVER.

Witnesses:

J. A. GRAVES, ARTHUR K. KYLE. 

